Shoe supporting mechanism



Sept. 18, 1962 w. J. BROTCHIE SHOE SUPPORTING MECHANISM Filed May 25, 1961 Inventor Wa/Ier' (I Br'ofc/lie By his Alto/"Hey United States Patent Filed May 23, 1961, Ser. No. 112,038 8 Claims. (Cl. 12123) This invention relates to a shoe supporting mechanism and is herein illustrated as embodied in a shoe supporting mechanism associated with a toe lasting machine and of the type disclosed and claimed in United States Letters Patent No. 2,934,774, issued May 3, 1960, on an application filed in the names of Andrew I. Gilbride and Adelbert W. Rockwell, Jr. It will be understood, however, that the invention is not limited to embodiment in a shoe supporting mechanism associated with the toe lasting machine or to the exact mechanism construction shown.

In the shoe supporting mechanism disclosed in the mentioned patent, the shoe mounted on a rocking last pin is swung in a direction to cause its toe end to be clamped against a toe rest by pressure exerted by a fixed heel abutment on the heel end of the shoe as a result of bodily movement of the rocking last pin in a direction to force the heel end of the shoe against the abutment. With most types of shoes, this arrangement has proved to be quite satisfactory, especially when the mentioned heel abutment is provided with a resilient shoe engaging pad to avoid, so far as possible, damaging or marring of the upper. However, with certain types of shoes, for example those having uppers of soft and very easily marked materials, or provided with plastic counter stiifeners which may not be fully set at the time of the toe lasting operation, it is essential that the application of any pressure at all directly against the surface of the upper at the heel end of the shoe be entirely avoided.

It is, therefore, an object of this invention to provide a novel and improved shoe supporting mechanism of the same general type as that of the above-mentioned patent but wherein the last pin is rocked to clamp the toe end of the shoe thereon against a toe rest without the application of pressure directly on the heel end of the shoe, or its last. With this object in view, and in accordance with a feature of the invention, the herein illustrated shoe supporting mechanism which, in common with the shoe supporting mechanism of the mentioned patent, includes a toe rest, a carriage, a supporting member movably mounted on the carriage, and a last pin and last pin block pivotally mounted on the supporting member, is provided with an abutment member associated with the carriage and adapted to engage the last pin block for rocking the last pin, thus to clamp the toe end of a shoe thereon against the toe rest, in response to movement of the supporting member. More particularly, a slide is adjustably mounted on the carriage and a wedge member pivotally mounted on the slide is adapted to engage the last pin block and a surface on the supporting member for rocking the last pin, in a direction to clamp the toe end of a shoe thereon against the toe rest.

The above and other objects and features of the invention will appear in the following detailed description of the preferred embodiment of the invention, illustrated in the accompanying drawings, and will be pointed out in the claims.

In the drawings,

FIG. 1 is a view in side elevation, with parts also shown in vertical section, of a portion of a toe lasting machine provided with the improved toe supporting mechanism of this invention; and

FIG. 2 is a view at an enlarged scale of a portion of the shoe supporting mechanism shown in FIG. 1.

Referring to these drawings, the improved shoe supice porting mechanism therein disclosed is generally like that shown in the patent to Gilbride mentioned above and thus includes a toe rest 10 (corresponding to the toe rest 20 of the Gilbride et al. patent) which is mounted on a machine frame, a portion of which appears in FIG. 1 and is identified by the reference character 12. Also mounted on this frame, by means of a yoke 14, is a bracket including two spaced-apart arms, only one of which appears in FIG. 1 and is identified by the reference character 16. Mounted on this bracket for adjustment in directions toward and away from the aforementioned toe rest, by means of a hand wheel 18, is a member 20 which serves as a carriage. Pivotally mounted on this carriage is a lever 22 on the upper end of which a last pin block 24, carrying a last pin 26, is pivotally supported.

Adjustably secured to the carriage 20, by means of a clamp screw 30, is a slide 32 to the lower end of which there is pivotally mounted an abutment member 34 having a wedge-shaped end 36. As will be apparent from an inspection of FIG. 2, the wedge-shaped end 36 of the abutment member 34 is inserted between the lower side 38 of the last pin block 24 and a wear plate 40 secured to the supporting member 22. A spring-pressed plunger 41 in the block 24 tends to rock the block in a counterclockwise direction and thus to hold the lower surface 38 against the abutment member 34. Connected to the lower end of the lever 22, below its pivot point, is the operating rod 42 of a fluid pressure actuator, indicated generally by the reference character 44, and including a diaphragm 46 mounted within a cylinder 48. A compression spring 50 holds the diaphragm in the position shown in FIG. 1 when the cylinder 48 is connected to exhaust through a conduit 52.

The slide 32 and abutment member '34, pivotally mounted thereon, are so adjusted that when the conduit 52 is connected to exhaust and the diaphragm is in the position shown in FIG. 1, a shoe S, indicated in broken lines in FIG. 1, may be placed loosely on the last pin 26 with its toe end resting on the toe rest 10. Now, a air under pressure is admitted to the cylinder 48 through the conduit 52, from a source not shown, the supporting lever 22 will be rocked in a clockwise direction, see lower arrow, FIG. 2. Because of the wedging action of the end 36 of the abutment member 34 which is fixed against movement, the block 24, together with the last pin thereon, will be rocked in a counterclockwise direction, see upper arrow in FIG. 2, thereby causing the last pin 26 to bind in the last pin hole and to swing the toe end of the shoe forcibly against the toe rest 10. Thus, so long as air under pressure is supplied to the cylinder 48, the shoe S will be firmly clamped against the toe rest and rigidly supported in the machine. Inasmuch as the abutment member 34 engages the last pin block 24, no pressure of any kind is applied directly to the heel end of the shoe. Accordingly, all danger of damaging or otherwise marring the upper at the heel end of the shoe is entirely avoided.

Having thus described my invention, what I claim as new and desire to secure by Letters Patent of the United States is:

1. In a machine for shaping uppers over lasts having a main frame and toe lasting Wipers, a support for a shoe on its last comprising a toe rest mounted on the frame, a bracket mounted on the frame adjacent to the toe rest, a carriage mounted on said bracket for adjusting movements toward and away from the toe rest, a supporting member movably mounted on the carriage, a last pin block pivotally supported on said member, a last pin carried by the block, an abutment associated with the carriage and adapted to engage the last pin block to cause the last pin to rock in a direction to swing the toe end of a shoe mounted thereon into firm contact with the toe rest in response to movement of the supporting member in one direction, and means for moving said member in that direction.

2. In a machine for shaping uppers over lasts having a main frame and toe lasting wipers, a support for a shoe on its last comprising a toe rest mounted on the frame, a bracket mounted on the frame adjacent to the toe rest, a carriage mounted on said bracket for adjusting movements toward and away from the toe rest, a supporting member movably mounted on the carriage, a last pin block pivotally supported on said member, a last pin carried by the block, an abutment member pivotally mounted on the carriage and adapted to engage the last pin block to cause the last pin to rock in a direction to swing the toe end of a shoe mounted thereon into firm contact with the toe rest in response to movement of the supporting member in one direction, and means for moving said member in that direction.

3. In a machine for shaping uppers over lasts having a main frame and toe lasting wipers, a support for a shoe on its last comprising a toe rest mounted on the frame, a bracket mounted on the frame adjacent to the toe rest, a carriage mounted on said bracket for adjusting movements toward and away from the toe rest, a supporting member movably mounted on the carriage, a last pin block pivotally supported on said member, a last pin carried by the block, a wedge member associated with the carriage and adapted to engage said block and a surface on the supporting member to cause the last pin to rock in a direction to swing the toe end of a shoe mounted thereon into firm contact with the toe rest in response to movement of the supporting member in one direction, and means for moving said member in that direction.

4. In a machine for shaping uppers over lasts having a main frame and toe lasting wipers, a support for a shoe on its last comprising a toe rest mounted on the frame, a bracket mounted on the frame adjacent to the toe rest, a carriage mounted on said bracket for adjusting movements toward and away from the toe rest, a supporting member movably mounted on a carriage, a last pin block pivotally supported on said member, a last pin carried by the block, a wedge member pivotally mounted on the carriage and adapted to engage said block and a surface on the supporting member to cause the last pin to rock in a direction to swing the toe end of a shoe mounted thereon into firm contact with the toe rest in response to movement of the supporting member in one direction, and means for moving said member in that direction.

5. In a machine for shaping uppers over lasts having a main frame and toe lasting wipers, a support for a shoe on its last comprising a toe rest mounted on the frame, a bracket mounted on the frame adjacent to the toe rest, a carriage mounted on said bracket for adjusting movements toward and away from the toe rest, a supporting member movably mounted on the carriage, a last pin block pivotally supported on said member, a last pin carried by the block, a slide adjustably mounted on the carriage, an abutment member carried by the slide and adapted to engage the last pin block to cause the last pin to rock in a direction to swing the toe end of a shoe mounted thereon into firm contact with the toe rest in response to movement of the supporting member in one direction, and means for moving said member in that direction.

6. In a machine for shaping uppers over lasts having a main frame and toe lasting Wipers, a support for a shoe on its last comprising a toe rest mounted on the frame, a bracket mounted on the frame adjacent to the toe rest, a carriage mounted on said bracket for adjusting movements toward and away from the toe rest, a supporting member movably mounted on the carriage, a last pin block pivotally supported on said member, a last pin carried by the block, a slide adjustably mounted on the carriage, an abutment member pivotally mounted on the slide and adapted to engage the last pin block to cause the last pin to rock in a direction to swing the toe end of a shoe mounted thereon into firm contact with the toe rest in response to movement of the supporting member in one direction, and means for moving said member in that direction.

7. In a machine for shaping uppers over lasts having a main frame and toe lasting wipers, a support for a shoe on its last comprising a toe rest mounted on the frame, a bracket mounted on the frame adjacent to the toe rest, a carriage mounted on said bracket for adjusting movements toward and away from the toe rest, a supporting member movably mounted on the carriage, a last pin block pivotally supported on said member, a last pin carried by the block, a slide adjustably mounted on the carriage, a wedge member carried by the slide and adapted to engage said block and a surface on the supporting memer to cause the last pin to rock in a direction to swing the toe and of a shoe mounted thereon into firm contact with the toe rest in response to movement of the supporting member in one direction, and means for moving said member in that direction.

8. In a machine for shaping uppers over lasts having a main frame and toe lasting wipers, a support for a shoe on its last comprising a toe rest mounted on the frame, a bracket mounted on the frame adjacent to the toe rest, a carriage mounted on said bracket for adjusting movements toward and away from the toe rest, a supporting member movably mounted on the carriage, a last pin block pivotally supported on said member, a last pin carried by the block, a slide adjustably mounted on the carriage, a Wedge member pivotally mounted on the slide and adapted to engage said block and a surface on the supporting member to cause the last pin to rock in a direction to swing the toe end of a shoe mounted thereon into firm contact with the toe rest in response to movement of the supporting member in one direction, and means for moving said member in that direction.

Morrill July 31, 1934 Baker Oct. 4, 1960 

